Passionate Stakes
by Thesmophoria
Summary: "Never leave any part of your story out. I want to know everything about you."
1. Chapter 1

**Passionate Stakes**

**Disclaimer:** The world of Fairy Tail and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima. I do not profit from the writing of this story and am a fan who simply loves the work.

**Timeline:** Manga based (I know the anime isn't that much different minus the filler), takes place after the time skip but will become an AU quickly because it picks up almost immediately when they get back and excludes the games and beyond.

**Author's Note:** I will not write these often but I wanted to place a quick note before the story begins about the pairings and content of this story. First, spelling and grammar…. This story does not have a beta and I am a visual artist. I use this medium as a way to clear my mind when working on pieces. So if you see mistakes… sorry (?) but whatever at the same time.

The characters will be slightly OOC because I am not Hiro Mashima. There is a lot of introspective analysis and sometimes they tend to get broody on me but I will try very hard to stay away from anything with too much angst. I am looking to have everyone grow emotionally in this story but will try my best to keep them as true to their cannon personalities as I can, but they will change.

This story will primarily focus on the pairing of Natsu x Lucy but will include, allude and is not limited to: Gray x Juvia, Levy x Gajeel, Mirajane x Freed and Erza x Jellal. Because I keep up with the weekly manga there might be spoilers included for those who only watch the anime but I am writing so far behind the current plot that it shouldn't be an issue. In regard to the topic of spoilers I might borrow from the cannon as I see fit for this world.

The naming conventions that I have used are taken from the Fairy Tail Wiki site as well as the names of the type of magic each mage uses.

Finally, because this story is rated T it will have mild cussing and mild sexual themes, nothing graphic but implied. Think in the terms of a PG13 movie, this is so it can reach a larger viewer base.

Lastly, enjoy, and I look forward to our ride together.

_Internal Thoughts in 'Italics'_

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

It had been just over five weeks since the twenty-one missing mages had returned to the city of Magnolia. Unfortunately, after the seven year absence of its core members, Fairy Tail, the once strongest guild in all of Fiore, was now dead last in the rankings and had been receiving very few job request because of this.

The smaller amount of work being posted meant that when everyone returned, many of the higher level members, like Gildarts, took what little jobs that were available, and left other mages, like Lucy Heartfilia stuck at guild base with nothing to do.

Sure, she was part of 'Team Natsu', but he and Happy had been preoccupied with making repairs to their small home that had fallen into even more disrepair after being abandoned for seven years. Of course, with their house be inhabitable for the time being meant that the fire dragon slayer and his beloved blue cat had been sleeping over her house. With Natsu and her basically cohabiting, even if only temporarily, a certain ice mage and temperamental red head made their presence an inevitable part of Lucy's small apartment every night. Lucy suspected that Gray was only there to annoy Natsu but she knew that Erza had more protective intentions.

Over the past two weeks, her house guests had primarily been Natsu, Happy and Gray. Erza had been sent by Makarov on a very secretive, and apparently personal mission with the iron dragon slayer Gajeel.

Being surrounded by so much testosterone was slowly making Lucy crazy, and by nine o'clock every night Gray usually found himself on his ass outside her front door.

'_I couldn't very well kick Natsu and Happy to the street. They have no real place to call home right now, at least not one that has a solid roof yet.'_ Lucy internalized this statement to herself nightly as she kicked the dejected ice mage out of her apartment.

After finding out that her father had passed away only a month before their return, she would be lying if she told herself that the company was entirely unwelcome. Lucy knew that she would always regret that her and her father would never get the chance to completely rebuild their relationship. However, she was happy that she was at least on better terms with him when she vanished. The one good thing that came out of this tragedy was that her father had been paying her rent for the seven years that she was away. Jude Heartfilia explained in his will that he never thought that she was dead and knew that Lucy would need her home when she came back. He had also left just enough money to cover her rent for a few more months, finishing out the year.

While she was inwardly suppressing feelings that the blonde celestial mage knew would eventually catch up to her. Outwardly, Lucy told herself that she still had to keep up appearances, and continued to act flabbergasted that her friends would have the nerve to invade the privacy of her small studio apartment pretty much every day. This 'usual' behavior helped everyone more than Lucy could ever have guessed.

All of the guild members, formerly missing or not, were trying to find and hold onto some sense of normalcy after the great shock of either finding out your friends were not dead or trying to adjust to a completely different world than you were used to. Seven years doesn't really seem that long when you are experiencing it, but being thrown into the future with no context proved to be very disorienting to many of the retuning guild members. Whether they admitted it out loud to anyone or not.

Today was turning out to simply be another boring day in which Lucy found herself once again at the bar located in the new (to the returning members) guild building. Which was in all honestly more like a rundown farm house but the people that were there are what really mattered, not the structure that housed them.

After the main group of Fairy Tail mages had vanished, the guild had to file for bankruptcy and the original building in the northern most part of town had been foreclosed on. Currently, now that everyone was back, Fairy Tail's main goal was to reacquire their previous home and raise the guild to its previous rank as strongest guild in the kingdom of Fiore. Of course, with so few jobs coming in this task was proving to be much more difficult than previously anticipated.

So here Lucy sat, bored and alone because Natsu and Happy were once again fixing their disheveled home. She had tried to help once but that chaos was more than she or any other sane, non-basically-indestructible human could take. The celestial mage even considered asking Natsu and Happy to stay with her but that generosity was quickly squashed when she woke up one morning to find that every bit of food in her home had been eaten by her partners.

The quiet lull on days like this was nice but she was really ready to find work and start a new adventures with her friends.

_'Seven year'_ Lucy thought to herself while she rested her head on the bar countertop in the guilds main hall, _'I wonder if that technically makes me seven years older.'_

It still astonished her that after the explosion of Acnologia's attack occurred and the group of mages were engulfed in that bright yellow light, what seemed like a short blip on their radar of time, had actually been seven years to everyone else not on that island. Physically, everyone that had been in the group on Tenrou Island looked no different than the day that they disappeared, but legally, she was now twenty-four.

_'Almost halfway through my twenties,'_ she silently mused, _'and didn't even get to experience any of it.'_

"So," Mirajane started, suddenly breaking Lucy out of her quiet thoughts and causing her to jerk her head off of the countertop and stare at the beautiful white haired mage, "I hear that you and Natsu have been spending a good amount of time together since we have been back."

Lucy, sensing a trap, simply smiled at the older mage as she attempted to find the words that would adequately address the insinuating statement without giving Mirajane any room to create any new rumors about the two good friends and partners. However, even with all the intricate, well thought planning that had been going on in the celestial mages' brain, all of her potential ideas were thwarted in mere seconds with a simple sentence from an individual with very poor timing.

"Lucy!" The salmon haired dragon slayer in question exclaimed loudly as he suddenly burst through the front door of the guild, "Happy and I finished the roof so we don't have to sleep together tonight!"

"Aye!" Happy added as he floated in and discreetly surveyed the current inhabitants of the guild.

Groaning, Lucy just face-palmed and slowly laid her head back down on the bar counter defeated, ignoring the jeers and catcalls of her fellow guild mates in regards to the blatant sexual innuendo her oblivious partner had just blurted upon his entrance.

"Everybody seems in good spirits today!" Natsu laughed out as he pulled up a chair next to Lucy. He quickly ordered his usual and a plate of fish for his happy blue Exceed from a positively glowing Mirajane.

"Yeah, because you are an idiot." A tall black haired male said as he slowly approached the partners at the bar.

Mirajane set Natsu's flaming mug down in front of him before heading to the back to retrieve his food. The dragon slayer quickly drained the cup before he jumped up from his seat, wiped his mouth on his arm, and positioned himself face to face with his aggressor.

"Damn it you frozen piece of crap! You want to say that to me again? 'Cause I've been itchin' for a good fight all morning and now I'm really fired up!"

Natsu's sudden movements and yelling caused Lucy to lift her head off the bar top again and shoot her two male friends a perfected side eye. However, her irritation was short lived as she took in Gray's abnormal attire. The first odd thing was that he was actually fully clothed. The second was that her usually scantily clad friend was dressed to the nines, on a Thursday afternoon.

Gray sported a tailored, navy blue, wool blazer with matching wool slacks and vest with a crisp white button-up underneath, black leather shoes, black silk tie and hell, he even had socks on.

"You know what you hot headed freak, you... are... an... IDIOT! An I-D-I-O-T!" Gray yelled as he began to loosen his tie, preparing for his daily, almost ritualistic fight with Natsu. However, he abruptly stopped, frozen in place, as Mirajane sauntered out of the back kitchen with Natsu's order of food in hand.

"Now Gray, I know you are not going to go back on our little bet. You lost fair and square so you need to uphold the agreement we made." The Satan Soul takeover mage stated simply, a knowing smile on her face as she roughly sat Natsu's huge plate of food down on the countertop. While that smile may have been beautifully gleaming at her two male guild mates, her eyes held the true nature of her statement. It was a clear threat. One that said if Gray didn't comply with their apparent previous arrangement there would be hell to pay, and she was the ferryman.

Dejectedly, Gray fixed his tie and lethargically took a seat on the other side of the blonde celestial mage, huffing loudly as his butt hit the hard cushion.

"Yeah, Yeah," He mumbled under his breath and ordered a water.

Natsu stood stunned at Gray's reaction to Mirajane's threat and felt a little frustrated that he now had nowhere to direct his built up energy. Usually Mirajane never broke up their daily scuffle and sometimes even cheered them on. Something was obviously up but he couldn't put his finger on it. As Natsu stood with his mouth slightly open obviously trying to comprehend what had just transpired, Lucy took the time to actually ask the hot question of the day.

"Soooo," She started, "What's with the flashy get up? You almost look like you are going out on a date." She finished with a small giggle but quickly stopped when she noticed that at the mention of the word date, Gray's face quickly turned red and Mirajane squealed like a crazed fangirl that had been wrapped in the waves of moe.

"Yeah, why the hell are you dressed like a preppy douche?" Natsu eloquently added after Lucy's more neutral question as he sat down to eat, earning a glare from both women and the ice mage in question.

Gray's fists clenched on the counter top, wanting badly to punch the self-righteous smirk off of rosy haired 'Salamander's' face but reigned his emotions in to please the white haired woman who had been sending him not-so-inconspicuous warning glances from behind the bar. Trying to keep the conversation nonphysical, Gray was about to simply offer an equally snarky remark back to the fire dragon slayer but he was cut off by Mirajane's loud and entirely over enthusiastic announcement to the group. One that he had hoped would not have been spread throughout the guild so quickly.

"Our little Gray here is taking our lovely Juvia out on a delightful lunch date then to a wonderfully romantic play at the local theatre! I think that the play they are going to see is about a beautiful but sad and lonely princess who befriends a dark handsome prince and melts his frozen heart with love!" Mirajane cooed with her hands held together placed close to her heart. The former S-class mage looked like she could hardly contain her happiness as she let practically the whole guild know about the date that was to transpire between the ice and water element mages later that day.

"What?" Lucy stared unbelievingly at Mirajane and then quickly turned to Gray mouth hanging slightly ajar.

A loud thud was all that was heard in response as Gray simply dropped his head roughly onto the counter in front of him. (_Mirajane silently thought that it might be a good idea to add a padded cap to the edge of the bar as this seemed to be a popular action recently._)

"I mean this is great!" Lucy continued in a tone that was louder and faster than she would normally talk in, while patting him franticly on the back. "I'm glad you finally came around and acknowledged your feelings for Juvia! I mean come on. The woman has been head over heels in love with you since your first meeting when she was still part of Phantom Lord's Element Four. You have just been too... male to realize it!" Mirajane giggled and Gray merely looked at Lucy as if she had grown three heads and started using fire magic.

"Uh oh," Mirajane innocently laughed as Gray started to sputter incoherently, "I still don't think that he was quite aware of that little fact Lucy. I mean he is just as dense as some other people I know." With a pause, and a hard stare at the blonde in front of her, she let out a small sigh and continued, "For some reason I don't think that obliviousness is relegated to just the males in this guild." Mirajane turned her gaze at Natsu with her last statement and causing the blonde to glow a deep shade of red while Natsu simply continued to eat, unaware of the insinuation that the former S-Class mage had just made. "Regrettably" she tutted, "His date today is simply a product of a bad choice and a lost bet."

The idea of Gray losing a bet was the key to finally getting Natsu's attention off of his meal and back into the conversation at hand. However, before he had anytime to shoot out a teasing comment, the ice mage had regained his composure from earlier and began his words with a quick glare directed at Natsu, "Before you get your panties in a bunch, Salamander… I merely had a lot of faith in some people I thought I knew really well, and they let me down. So the loss isn't entirely my fault to begin with, it's theirs."

"But," Mirajane grinned mischievously, "A loss is still a loss and you have to live up to the terms and conditions of our agreement."

"I know, I know. Fine print and all that jazz. Why else would I be in this ridiculous getup if I didn't take my responsibility seriously." Gray said with a light blush on his cheeks as he looked another direction to try and hide this new coloring. His embarrassment was short lived because the wheels in Lucy's head had been turning with a feeling of trepidation since the word 'bet' had come up.

"One second..." The celestial mage began with some apprehension, "Does Juvia know that you are only taking her out because you lost a bet with Mirajane? Because if you lie to her and lead her on, I sure can see you drowning in your sleep once she finds out." Lucy asked only slightly worried about Gray's wellbeing but was really more concerned for Juvia's fragile feelings. "Wait, you better not be agreeing to this just because Lyon said he had feelings for her the last time he visited the guild after we got back! This had better not be some sick twisted competition you have made up with him in your head!"

The ice mage quickly reached out and put a comforting hand on Lucy's shoulder. "Lucy, calm down. Juvia knows. She was part of the bet between me, Mirajane, Juvia, Levy, and Cana." Gray wanted to try and quickly calm the blonde's worries because he knew Natsu would be quick to jump in if Lucy became really upset.

"Heh, heh," Natsu chuckled out loud more to himself than the people around him but decide on raising his voice for the rest of the group to hear the thought that popped into his head. "Serves you right, after hanging around Erza and Lucy so much you should know better than to bet against four women."

Mirajane and Gray gave Natsu matching surprised looks but Lucy simply smiled at his innocently subconscious compliment before she turned her attention back to the takeover and ice mages while asking, "So what is this bet you guys made about? And, since Gray was one of the losers who won?"

At her question Gray and Mirajane exchanged knowing looks but Gray was the first of the two to speak, "Let's say that just because I was the first of the group to lose doesn't mean that the others won't be quick to follow. In fact, I think Mirajane is up next." With that statement Gray stood up with a cocky smile plastered on his face, said his goodbyes to the rest of the guild and left to meet the woman he was sure would be his down fall. Whether that was a good or bad thing, he still hadn't decided.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** The world of Fairy Tail and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima. I do not profit from the writing of this story and am a fan who simply loves the work.

_Internal Thoughts in Italics_

**CHAPTER TWO**

After Gray had left the guild that afternoon for his date with Juvia, the rest of the day had been rather uneventful. Levy had entered the guild hall shortly after the ice mage's departure and a thrilled celestial mage threw her arms around her best friend before dragging the solid script mage to the bar where she and Natsu had been sitting earlier.

Lucy chatted with Levy for a good part of the afternoon about how happy Juvia had to be about finally having some serious alone time with Gray. Time for them to spend together that didn't involve fighting to help save the world from total destruction at least. They two women agreed, much to Natsu's distaste, that Gray cleaned up surprisingly well. Who knew that the serial stripper could look like 'the prince type' while wearing a sharp suit. This prompted the conversation of having the guild host a formal party where they could make the guys dress up and possibly have a date auction, or something similar the Miss. Fairy Tail pageant but with the men, to raise some money for the guild.

With the girls on the topic of guys, clothes and his partner sending him short side glances, Natsu took Lucy's body language as an indication that it was time for him to leave. Standing, he loudly announced that he and Happy were going fishing, much to the Exceed's pleasure. Natsu was proud that he had become rather adept at picking up on the subtle tells Lucy would use to let him know that it was time for her to have some serious girl time and that he needed to leave, even if his dragon slayer hearing would let him tune in from anywhere in the guild hall if he wanted. Not that he would ever really would or want to listen to those conversations.

Noticing these silent hints had also started to help them communicate while sparing together against other guild members during their weekly training sessions. These sparing matches had really sharpened their awareness for one another and Natsu was keen on testing it out in some real fights as soon as they finished settling in.

He had actually been surprised, because Lucy had been to one to approach him about training. She had said that they were already seven years behind everyone and would become even rustier while they were taking a hiatus from work if they didn't. Natsu initially had a feeling that her desire to start training right away was more about taking her mind off the situation with her father. Not that he was complaining of course, because now they were able to almost silently communicate their intended actions to one another with just a simple look. Basically, he and Lucy were really becoming in tune with one another.

Natsu was grateful that the blonde decided to start using the cues outside of battle. He shuddered just imagining what the girls really talked about when he and the other men were out of ear shot. He did however know that Lucy was dying to ask Levy a little about how she was feeling concerning the other male dragon slayer in the guild. '_Gajeel and Levy_,' Natsu silently considered the two mages. He pictured them standing next to one another. Tiny little blue haired Levy next to tall, rough and tumble Gajeel. The fire dragon slayer chuckled a little and silently contemplated with a grin, '_Now that would be a sight_.' With that quip as the last thought that ran through his mind he and Happy exited the guild and headed off to their favorite fishing hole.

* * *

'_Crap, Crap, Crap, I'm going to be late!_' Was the mantra running through Gray Fullbuster's head as he pushed through the crowd in the busy city. '_Why did I sit around with Natsu and Lucy so long at the guild when I knew I had to be somewhere on time!_' Gray had made lunch reservations with Juvia at Magnolia's most popular restaurant for this date because dinner seemed way more intimate than he was looking for right now.

'_Actually that isn't completely true_' he thought to himself.

In all honesty Juvia's intensity scared him. She gave her all in everything that she did, be it fighting or pursuing him, and Gray didn't want to be the one to screw her over if this didn't work out. Quickly checking his watch as he made it to the intersection in front of the restaurant Gray was relieved, '_1:58,_ _made it with two minutes to spare!_' Scanning the adjacent street with his eyes he sought out the familiar blue hair of his date.

"Juvia!" Gray yelled out as he caught sight of her. Waving his arms above his head, in an attempt to try and get the water mages attention, he crossed to meet her in front of the restaurant. "Sorry I kept you waiting I got caught up at the guild and thought the major lunch rush would be back at work by now." Pausing to simply look into her eyes he finished with a, "Have you been here long?"

"Not long at all." Juvia answered shyly while casting her gaze to the ground before lifting her eyes up to meet his. "Of course Juvia would never mind waiting for Gray no matter how long it took him."

As she spoke the ice mage took the time to take in what exactly was standing in front of him. Juvia's once tightly curled hair style now hung in loose waves down her back. She still had it tucked under a hat, but it seemed that she had traded her normal cold weather wool one for a simple dark navy berate that was angled just to the right of her head. Letting his eyes lower he was momentarily stunned by Juvia's dress which was also the same dark navy blue that matched her hat. The neck line plunged almost to the bottom of her ribs and, well, he thought she filled it out nicely. Not letting his stare linger too long on her breast, that were somehow magically staying place, he looked back up to her expecting face. '_Crap_,' he thought, '_She must have asked me a question and I was checking her out instead of listening_.'

"Sorry Juvia, I... well you see... You look gorgeous and, I wasn't listening." Gray admitted honestly, throwing his hand behind his head as he scratched with a nervous laugh.

At his comment Juvia turned a deep red in embarrassment but in her typical quiet tone answered, "Juvia was just asking if you were ready to go in? And... um… Juvia thinks Gray look very handsome today as well."

Gray gave Juvia a small smile and extended his arm out to her. As she settled her hand in the crook of his elbow, the blushing couple entered the restaurant to start their first date.

* * *

Natsu lay napping, sprawled out in a ray of sun that was coming through a gap in the trees. The end of his fishing pole securely anchored in the ground next to Happy, who had so far been the only one to actually reel in a fish on this trip.

"Catch anything else?" Natsu asked as he stood then raised his arms above his head, stretching out his stiff mussels.

"Aye! Three more since you fell asleep. I think your worm got away though. Nothing has pulled on your line since you put it down." Happy answered without looking at the dragon slayer.

Natsu hummed a generic response and gingerly sat down, cross-legged next to the little blue cat. The two sat in silence for the next hour, taking in the scenery and meditatively casting their lines.

Natsu and Happy had been coming to this spot for years. It was a place that they considered theirs and only a few select people even knew of its well protected location. Today the weather had been perfect for fishing. The sky was a deep blue with only white, fluffy clouds around for miles. A small breeze kept the temperature at a comfortable level, although Natsu and Happy were rarely concerned with the temperature as fur and the ability to use fire magic kept them comfortable year round.

After a good while, when dragon slayer reeled in his fourth fish, Happy turned to his friend and shyly asked, "Um, Natsu, have you ever asked a girl out before?"

"W-What?" Natsu sputtered, as he almost dropping his fishing pole in the water, but managed to catch it at the last minute and gently placed it next to his right side. Taken off guard by the unusual question from his companion the dragon slayer slowly turned his upper body toward Happy. His eyes urging the little blue exceed to elaborate.

"You know, um... say that there is a girl that you like and you are pretty good friends with her already. Then say you decide that maybe just being friends isn't enough, but you don't know if she is thinking the same thing…." Happy trailed off at the end, not really knowing how to ask without rambling.

Natsu sat and thought about what his friend was asking, and for several moments the dragon slayer remained silent. Memories from his life so far flickered to the surface as he tried to decide how to answer to him. "Well, there was that time with Lisanna when I found your egg... but that was when we were kids and we were just playing house back then."

"Aye, but what if you didn't want to just _play_ house with your friend anymore. Think about how we have been living with Lucy. What if you decided to make that more permanent than just staying with her while we repair our house?" Happy pushed. Using Lucy to get a straight answer out of Natsu could backfire on him but it was a risk that the exceed was willing to take because no one else could trigger Natsu's baser instincts than the blonde celestial mage.

Natsu quickly answered with, "Ok, we are partners and we already spend a lot of time together. I don't think that would be that big of a deal. Well, other than when Lucy wanted to have some girly time."

"Natsu, I know you way to well for you to play dumb with me." The Exceed accused in a rather serious tone. "You know what I mean." He proceeded by giving his partner a look that proved he saw straight through how intentionally dense the fire mage was being in regards to his questioning.

Happy's attitude caught Natsu off guard and all he could manage to do was cast his eyes to the ground in want to change the subject.

Sighing Natsu stood up grabbing his fishing pole and dusting off his pants he looked to his partner. "Come on buddy. Let's head back to the guild before it gets too late. I don't want Lucy walking home alone in the dark and since this is the first night we won't be staying with her since we got back…" The dragon slayer paused for a moment looking around before sighing, "Happy, I don't know. Let's just go."

Turning away from Happy as he left his thought unfinished Natsu missed the annoyed, yet knowing glance from the exceed that accompanied his customary, "Aye!" even if it was a little more lackluster than normal.

* * *

On several occasions Lucy attempted to pry the details of the bet out of her best friend but was only able to get information that concerned their 'punishments' if they lost.

"Well," Levy opened, "Gray's is pretty obvious after what you said you saw this afternoon. He came in late though because he walked in that morning and overheard us talking."

"That morning? How long have the six of you had this bet going?" Lucy interrupted.

Levy thought for a moment and answered, "About two, maybe three weeks now. It started out with just me and Mirajane talking about some random things. Cana had overheard what we were talking about and that's when the idea of a bet came up. After a while Juvia had taken an interest. I guess we were all being loud and it grabbed Gray's attention as he entered the guild which caused him to come over and see what was going on." Levy began to chuckle at her memory of what had happened next. "You of course know how Juvia gets as soon as Gray is within five feet of her. _'Juvia can never tell a lie to or keep things from Gray!'_ and she told him the entire thing."

Lucy was doubled over in laughter as Levy impersonated the overly emotional water mage's voice and movements. "It really must have been some bet if gray wanted to get involved I wish I had been there so I could have participated." Lucy said as she calmed down and wiped her eyes from her little fit of laughter. She knew that Levy would see right through this remark as an attempt to get her best friend to slip up and spill the details of what was going on with this seemingly ultra-secret bet. At least no one could say she didn't try and by this point in time she was pretty much dying of curiosity.

"You truly are a sneaky woman trying to guilt me into telling you." Levy scolded her friend with a smile, "Unfortunately, even if I wanted to tell you I couldn't. The five of us are bound by magic to keep the bet fair. It keeps the players from interfering since the conditions were that the event has to happen on natural terms."

"Fine," Lucy dramatically pouted as she crossed her arms across her chest, "Tell me what everyone else has to do when they lose then. Hopefully _that_ will satiate my curiosity."

With a laugh at Lucy's over-acting Levy started to explain the individual "punishments" to the celestial mage. "Well, before Gray had joined us, Juvia's punishment had already been decided. It was for her to ask Gray out on a date but that quickly changed and became Greys punishment."

"Let me guess, Mirajane decide to switch that one up." Lucy smiled

"Of course, anyone could see 'Mirajane' written all over that idea. She actually wanted to make sure we invited Lyon over on the day Grey had to ask Juvia to go out but I told her that was taking the punishment too far. Oh," The script mage slapped her forehead with her palm before continuing, "I forgot to mention that there are also penalties if we don't go through with our end of the deal. Which, believe me, it can be as equally embarrassing as the punishments."

At this Lucy's eyes grew wide as she excitedly asked, "What would Gray have had to do if he refused to ask Juvia out?"

Levy started laughing so hard she almost fell out of her chair at the question. "Mirajane wanted to make sure he would never back out of the deal so she proposed that Gray would have to act like one of Natsu's fangirls for a 24 hour period without telling Natsu what was going on while he fawned over him. Of course he was horrified but the rest of us backed Mirajane up pretty quickly. You should have seen his face Lucy"

"I can imagine." The blonde giggled as her friend tried to mimic the expression the ice mage had done. "Although for some reason I would have loved to see Natsu's reaction to that as well."

"I admit it would have been amazing but I'm glad he decided to go with it and take Juvia out on the date." Levy smiled warmly as her friend nodded in agreement.

The two friends sat in silence for a moment wondering how everything was going for their two friends. But Lucy's face started to fall as it always did when thoughts of the events that occurred on Tenrou Island surfaced. "Levy, where do you think we would be if everything had gone smoothly with the S-Class trials? Look at Bisca and Alzack, not only did they get married they had a kid! A living breathing person that they are responsible for." Slightly manic the celestial spirit mage continued while her friend looked on with wide worried eyed, "That could be Gray and Juvia married, Elfman and Evergreen could also have a kid. Seven years is so long to be away. What if we missed our chances to… to… I don't know, to do something meaningful? Ugh, that's not the word I'm looking for Levy. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"Honestly Lucy, I don't know about all that, but at least we are getting a second chance rather than the alternative." The blue haired mage answered the blonde next to her with caution, not wanting to stress Lucy out more than she already seemed to be. "Hey, you know, Juvia's punishment ended up being pretty simple since Gray ended up with what essentially was her punishment was originally." Levy decided to quickly interject, attempting to bring Lucy's mood up and lead her thoughts away from what happened without them over the past seven years. "Now she will just have to refrain from talking in the third person for a day and Juvia's penalty is that she will have to wear bright colors for 24 hours."

"Well, that is surprisingly tame." All previous thoughts in the celestial spirit mage's head about the island moved aside.

"Oh, Mirajane had other ideas but we vetoed them as a group pretty quickly." The blue haired mage grinned mischievously, "And, since she is so concerned with pairing everyone up we decided that it was her turn to be at the other end of a matchmaker's scheme."

"Freed." The blonde stated simply. Nothing more really needed to be said about the way the two older members danced around each other.

"You got it." The two friends cackled uninhibited for a good five minutes as they both imagined a shy Mirajane confessing her undying love to the green haired dark écriture mage. This earned the two of them a glare from said female from behind the bar, which quickly put an end to their incessant laughter.

After a few minutes Mirajane finally became distracted as a small group of members who showed up hungry after just having returned from a mission. This now allowed for the two younger mages to continue their previous conversation without interruption or fear of retribution.

"So after Mirajane that just leaves you and Cana." Levy lightly blushed at Lucy's words and directed her friend's questions toward Cana's punishment.

"Well, since we assumed that Cana really only loved her alcohol, we first thought about banning her from drinking for two months." This thought caused Lucy and Levy to physically shudder. "However, for the sake of the guild, we decided that Cana with no booze would be way worse than allowing her father free roam of the city." The girls again paled at the idea of Gildarts frolicking liberally through Magnolia leaving a wake of destruction that could be rivaled only by Natsu's handiwork.

Levy regained her composure and continued, "Since none of us want that hell on earth, the group decided that Cana would have to accompany Gildarts on a decently lengthy mission for some father daughter bonding that they missed out on over all those years she kept her parentage a secret from us… I mean him."

Laughing a little at Levy's slip Lucy pondered, "I'm not sure who is going to be worse at accepting their punishment if they lose, Mirajane or Cana." Lucy thoughtfully pondered the reactions that would happen if either of the women lost this bet, "Both of them can throw a pretty good tantrum."

"Oh you don't know half of it. You should have been there when the conditions for losing were set." The solid script mage put her hands to her temples in remembrance. "It took us an hour just to get Mirajane to stop being pigheaded about the group decision for her punishment. Then another for the penalty. Of course we did find out that Cana is actually dating a mage from another guild called Quatro Cerberus. His name is Bacchus, and get this, he uses palm magic but to increase his power he gets drunk."

"A match made in heaven." Lucy smiled before adding, "I wonder who would win in a drinking contest?"

"Apparently he wins and has won. Cana told us a story about how he stole her top once after winning. According to Cana that's what made her fall in love with the guy."

Shaking her head in disbelief Lucy replied, "Sometimes I really worry about the members of this guild."

"Well, it did give the rest of us a chance to pick the perfect penalty for Cana. Apparently she hasn't told Gildarts about her boyfriend so if she refuses to go on a mission with him she has to tell him about Bacchus."

"You guys really can be evil if you want. But now that everyone else is out of the way, are you done avoiding what I really want to know? Well, other than what the actually bet is." Lucy said as she gave her friend a cunning smile and lightly elbowed her in the side

"I, you, well you see, it's like um…." Levy sputtered, as her face turned as red as Erza's hair.

Lucy laughed while patting her friend comfortably on the shoulder, knowing exactly what or really who Levy was going to have to approach as she saw her best friend gaze, still blushing at the empty table that a specific iron dragon slayer and his partner usually occupied.

"So Lucy, when are you going to finish your book?!" Levy teased as she regained her composure and quickly changed the subject. She hoped that talk about the blonde's novel would end further questions about the condition she had agreed to with this bet, "I think you are seven years behind your deadline so you should just let me read what you had!"

Sighing Lucy leaned back in her chair, two legs leaving the floor. The blonde successfully distracted. "I may have to scrap that project. I know it is still fresh in my mind but I worry that it is outdated now." The celestial mage looked down and wrung her hands in her lap with apprehension. She had worked so hard to get the book where it was so many years ago, but times and taste change so rapidly.

"All good reads transcend time," Levy encouraged as she placed a hand on Lucy's shoulder. "I'm sure that it is fine, in fact, you should let me check!" she finished with a sly smile.

"You are so unrelenting!" The celestial mage laughed in return, shooing Levy's hand away. Her frame of mind now brightened in a way only her best friend could help with, especially in regards to her writing. Distractedly, Lucy's eyes scanned the room and let her gaze settle on her salmon haired partner that had come back into the guild a few minutes ago after what seemed like a fruitful fishing trip. He was talking to Max and Romeo and laughed loudly at something that had been said. Lucy smiled at his exuberant outburst, the celestial mage was always happy when Natsu was happy.

She was pulled out of her trance by Levy's playful laughter "And you are giving me a hard time. I think you are in the exact same situation as I am."

"I have _no_ idea what you are going on about." Lucy said, waving her hands franticly as she hurriedly got up and headed off in the direction of her partner and left the still giggling Levy behind her.

When she reached the table Natsu occupied, he was in the middle of a 'manly' arm-wrestling match with Elfman. Lucy knew that it could take a while before one of these two would give in so she silently sat down next to the fire dragon slayer to watch. She aware of the fact that Natsu wasn't struggling in the slightest since Elfman wasn't using his Beast Arm. She smiled at the oddly noncompetitive competitiveness the guys in the guild always demonstrated. Of course they also demonstrated normal competitiveness but camaraderie and fun always came first between the guild members of Fairy Tail.

As she studied Natsu's face the celestial mage noticed that he seemed to be completely spaced out, his thoughts in an entirely different place as he easily held the struggling takeover mage off. This worried Lucy a little because Natsu had been relatively quiet for his typical demeanor the past couple days. With the two week absence of Erza and Gajeel she knew Natsu had been rather restless without his usual outlets to dump his overactive drive to fight. Sure he still had Gray around and the two of them had been training together on a weekly basis but fighting the iron dragon slayer or the exquip mage generally satiated Natsu's fighting lust just a little longer than anything that wasn't a real life threatening fight.

Lucy had first noticed his increased frustration shortly after Makarov had sent Erza and Gajeel out on an apparently secretive personal mission. The fire dragon slayer had had a fit about that. He practically threw a massive tantrum about wanting to be included. Of course his conduct hadn't helped his cause, and he was denied involvement in the mission. Makarov later lectured him on behavior and explained that some missions needed a level head and more stealth than he possessed.

The night Gajeel and Erza left, his sleep was unusually restless. Natsu tossed and turned all night while unknowingly muttering about how he didn't want to be left behind again, how he had to continue getting stronger so he could protect all of his friends, and finally find Igneel. Needless to say Lucy and Happy had been up all night. Not because of his anxiety but because of their increased worry about Natsu's mental wellbeing.

However, when he woke up the next morning, it was like nothing that occurred the previous day had even happened. This made the blonde worry even more because she knew how well her partner could push aside and hide certain feelings. The fire dragon slayer might constantly feign ignorance but the happy grinning mask he wore almost every day wasn't always an accurate portrayal of his true emotional state. Lucy knew that the only thing that she could do right now was to be there to catch him when he finally cracked.

Suddenly a loud splintering was heard, which broke her out of her daze because the table she had been resting her arms on became a million toothpicks at her feet. Natsu yelled in victory but then noticed the irritation on his partners face. The fire dragon slayer laughed as he placed his hand on the back of his neck apologizing in attempt to appease the celestial mage. Lucy decided to just shake her head in disbelief and somewhere in the back ground she heard Elfman attributing the shattering of the table to his and Natsu's over abundant 'Manliness'.

Slowly, Lucy rose from her seat and stepped over the remnants of the destroyed table. She walked to the bar, with Natsu now in tow, taking the seats that they had held earlier in the morning and in similar fashion he ordered a pint of his favorite fire liquor from Mirajane.

Finally realizing that she was going to be alone for the first time later that night Lucy decided that now was the perfect time to broach the subject of work with her partner. As Mirajane sat a mug in front of the man next to her Lucy dove in with a blunt, "Natsu, we really need to find work." The blonde then reluctantly grumbled, "The money my father left for my rent is only going to last a few more months and I still need some to spend on food."

"I know we do. I'm bored out of my mind and no one is here to spar with in my down time either. That and all of our money had been stolen while we were gone." Natsu spat out the last part with dejection, "But, now that Happy and I have at least fixed our roof we can start to get really serious about finding a mission!" He finished with a grin.

"Unfortunately it's not really a matter of being serious. We just have to wait for a job to come in and since they seem to be scarce it has been next to impossible." The celestial mage sighed, "Believe me I even considered going solo while you and happy were rebuilding," Natsu shot her a look that she just rolled her eyes at, "but, every posting is gone as soon as it comes in! Plus you know the type of trouble Luigi gets into without you" She elbowed him in the side as she finished.

He chuckled slightly at her tease before grabbing and sipping the drink that Mirajane had set in front of him. Natsu considered their situation. For a few more minutes the two sat in a comfortable silence until Lucy had had enough.

"Bah, screw this, I'm bored. I'm going to head home. I didn't do anything _at all_ today but I am tired!" Lucy exclaimed as she stood up from her chair and grabbed the jacket she had brought with her when she came in this morning off the back. She stopped and looked back at her partner that still sat in his seat at the bar and the celestial spirit mage was suddenly hit with realization again that Natsu had been staying with her for a total of five weeks now, and tonight would be the first night that she would spend alone since they had returned from Tenrou Island. With a frown she turned and headed toward the guild's entrance. Patting Natsu's back lightly as she past, Lucy proceeded to slip on her jacket as she moved to the door.

"Hey, wait up. I'll walk you home." Natsu called after Lucy as he downed the rest of his drink while the front door closed behind her. He quickly motioned for Happy to follow him out of the guild as he made his way to the entrance.

As the partners exited Fairy Tail that night neither the celestial mage nor the fire dragon slayer noticed the many sets of eyes belonging to their guild mates watch the entire interaction of their exit. They would also never know the buzz of conversation that started as soon as the door closed behind Natsu.


End file.
